Hostage-taking As a Way of Forming Close Familial Bonds

The word “hostage” has negative connotations of a captive being held against their will and with a loss of freedom. The samurai understood that hostage-taking was a political move and a way of forming close familial bonds. As a hostage under both the Oda and the Imagawa, [Tokugawa] Ieyasu was treated as a family member, well cared for and properly educated with the expectation that he—and in turn the Matsudaira/Tokugawa clan—would be a future close ally of the Imagawa. In a way, this bears comparison to a form of Stockholm Syndrome, a condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors during captivity. As a long-term [(ten years)] hostage, Ieyasu took part in the 1560 [C.E.] battle between the Imagawa and the Oda at Okehazama in the invading Imagawa forces. In this battle, 25,000 Imagawa soldiers were defeated in a surprise attack by an estimated 2,500 Oda samurai. Luckily, Ieyasu had been leading a supply mission to nearby Odaka Castle when the Oda attacked. With the death of Imagawa Yoshimoto, Ieyasu was at last free. Upon his return home to Okazaki Castle he soon allied himself with Oda Nobunaga, who had indirectly brought about his freedom.

— The Samurai Castle Master, Chapter 4